Year-End Recap

As the new year approaches, I wanted to take a moment to recap the last few months since my last post.  Remember the pumpkins we took time to plant in July? Well, many of the plants grew beautiful green leaves but no pumpkins grew and within a week of the plants looking so lush, all of the leaves seemed to disintegrate and almost disappear.  I didn't take the time to try and figure out why this happened, but it may have been too much watering on my part.  I don't really know, but it was really weird. So...we did what the majority of people do...went to Wal-Mart and purchased 3 pumpkins for carving at Halloween time!

 
Another plus to growing your own corn and doing a garden project with your father is the fun fall decorations that appeared at the entrance of my driveway!  Thanks, Dad!

 

By the time we got around to planting the middle area of our garden (sweet potatoes, beans and 2nd round of watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and okra) it was towards the middle of the summer and REALLY HOT.  Dad was busy helping care for a cousin struggling with cancer and I had both kids at home and we were trying to keep cool however possible, so we didn't take the time put straw around this area as we should have.  The grass and weeds got ahead of us in this area so it was really hard to tell where the weeds ended and the plants started.  We almost forgot we had even planted sweet potatoes.  We should have dug them up earlier but we were able to salvage a few...

 

We were able to sell &/or share hundreds of tomatoes this summer...The tomato plants were SO plentiful!  I had read to go ahead and pick all of the firm green tomatoes still on the vines before the first frost, so I spent over an hour picking all of the little tomatoes still left on our vines one day.  I couldn't believe how many were still left!

 

So with all of these green tomatoes in my possession...I went to the internet for ideas on how to use them.  I made a green tomato & apple crisp which turned out really good.  Those I made the dessert for weren't very appreciative of the fact I tried to "hide" that there were green tomatoes in it, but said the dessert tasted really good.  I made a green tomato salsa which turned out WAY TOO VINEGARY and the few people I gave it to didn't really care for it. (Lesson Learned:  Don't always rely on internet recipes to be delicious)  I also made a green tomato chutney...which I guess is popular in the south and is a type of relish or topping used for extra flavor.  I can't tell you if anyone liked it as I was too nervous to give it to anyone after the salsa experiment.  I tasted it and it seemed good but I couldn't figure out what I'd like to eat with it.  I still have 5 bowls of it in my refrigerator and probably 5 bowls of the green tomato salsa in my freezer if anyone wants to give it a try! LOL...Here's what the chutney looked like...

Some of the green tomatoes were sliced and frozen for Fried Green Tomatoes...Anyone who knows me very well, knows my eyes are drawn to the color green...Which is why I had to take a picture of this...I thought it was so pretty :-)



 

Grandma George taught me the coolest trick I learned to do with green tomatoes.  She remembers as a little girl that her mom would wrap their green tomatoes in newspaper and put them in a cardboard box.  Christmas time would roll around and they would have ripe red tomatoes to eat in the middle of winter!  I gave Grandma quite a few green tomatoes for her to try this again.  Sure enough--the tomatoes ripened!  They ripened way before Christmas and they all seemed to ripen at the same time but there for a short time they had ripe tomatoes after ripe tomato season had ended!  I will definitely try this myself next year.

 

One mid-November day, dad came over and pulled up our tomato plants and took down the tomato stakes, then he came back in a day or so and we tried to burn off the majority of dead plants that were left.  The ground wasn't as dry as we thought so it proved more difficult than we hoped it would be. (Note: There were no corn stalks to burn because we had pulled those up a while back and fed them to dad's cattle.)

 



After we burned off whatever would burn, dad hopped back on the tractor and tilled up the ground.  Not a trace of our blood, sweat and tears remained...Just rich brown dirt and MORE ROCKS!  We sowed winter wheat in the ground for the time being so we can till that into the soil when spring rolls around.  Here's what the ground looks like now.  A new clean slate.

Unless they've participated in this journey with us either by working in the garden or following this blog, no one could realize how much time and attention this patch of earth had received in the past 12 months.  My family and I have learned a lot about gardening this year.  We've tried a lot of new recipes and my husband and kids have gained a new liking for some (but still not all) fruits and veggies they may not have even wanted to try if they hadn't seen it growing in our garden.  Also, I wouldn't trade the large amount of time I got to spend with my dad during this project for the world.  Thank you, dad, for all the time and effort you put forth on our garden.  It means so much to me and I am happy we got to share this experience together.  As Mimi would say, "I Love You Bunches!"

Pumpkins...

Dad informed us a about 5 years ago that pumpkins should be planted on the 4th of July if they are going to be ready for October.  So for about 5 years now, he's prepared a spot for the grand kids to plant pumpkins on the 4th of July.  This year, we decided to use a portion of our garden to do the same. 
We had a large 4th of July family gathering at our house, so just before dark, we got the younger kids lined up on the outskirts of the garden so each could plant a few pumpkin seeds. 

 Aunt Elaine kind of "managed" the line as she watched the annual pumpkin planting party!

Each child got their turn to walk out to the garden and plant a few hills of pumpkin seeds...My sister, Amanda, was the official photographer for the event...Thanks, Aunt Manda, for these photos!

It's Brett's Turn! 

It's Jarrett's Turn!

It's Jude's Turn!

 It's Madelyn's Turn!

 It's Reece's Turn!

Kately also had her turn with planting the pumpkins, but for some reason, both of her pics and one of Reece's pics were too blurry to post.  I am still working on this dilemma because I definitely don't want to leave her out of this post if at all possible! :-)

They planted 3 seeds in the top of each mound of dirt dad had formed prior to the kids coming out to the garden.  

We planted 5 types of orange pumpkins.  Then...dad had saved some seed from some white decorative pumpkins my mom had purchased a couple years ago which we decided to see if they would grow, too!  I sure hope they do...they are unique and beautiful!

After the kids planted the pumpkins, we had to wait a couple weeks to surround the plants with a thick layer of straw to help with weed control, to lock in moisture and to give the pumpkins a barrier to rest upon to help keep them from rotting &/or pests when they begin to grow.

This is definitely not one of the best pictures of me, but dad insisted because I was coated in sweat (yes, I had sweat in my eyes, too!) and had dirt all over my forehead.  The cup I am holding is one of dad's notorious cups of ice water he is rarely seen without when out on the farm or in the garden.  Ice water never tasted so good as it did that morning...I sure am you can't smell pictures because I know this one would knock you over!  LOL...

Where has Summer Gone?

As with most people with young children at home, we have kept really busy this summer!  The majority of the kids' and my time has been spent with grandparents and great-grandparents or on daily trips to White Water, Silver Dollar City, Kids Free Bowling, Parks or Swimming Pools.

It has been dreadfully hot and dry, so I have waited to get out in the garden till the last part of daylight if at all possible.  Since rainfalls have been few and far between this summer, we have tried our hardest to keep our garden watered and we have still been blessed with a bountiful crop of goodies!  I can only imagine what it would have been like had we received adequate rainfall!

I have learned so much in the past 8 months.  Some were things I knew I would learn but others I would have never guessed...one of which is what it feels like to have rivers of sweat run in my eyes as I am bent over working in the garden.  Wow...it really stings.  Dad and I have literally sweat gallons & gallons this summer, but I don't regret it a bit!  It has been so fun learning something new!

Between Dad, Ryan and I, we've been able to keep up with picking our garden items daily.  But, it has been a lot of work!  We've cooked A LOT, shared A LOT, froze A LOT, canned a little and sold a little...It has been a great summer so far!  Here are some pictures of random items I wanted to document...

While our corn was producing, Dad would come over in the mornings, pick a few dozen ears of corn (or more) and leave on my back porch so it could be refrigerated or shucked.

Brett was SO excited when we picked our first watermelon...he couldn't wait to eat the first bite.  His little arms were dripping with juice and his little fingers, face and neck were as sticky as ever! Now, every watermelon he gets ready to eat, he'll say..."Mom, did we grow this in our garden?" :-)  I've enjoyed so many sweet smiling moments this summer as I've watched my kids learn about the garden, process what they know and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

I don't know how we missed this cucumber so many times when we were picking, but this picture hardly gives it justice...It was at least 4" in diameter!

Okra has done better now that the hot temps have set in...Now, I've felt like it is coming out of my ears...there's only so much one can do with okra...it is a sticky gooey mess to get it prepared, but pretty tasty when dipped in cornmeal and fried in some canola oil!

Our pole beans are looking beautiful, but there not any beans on them yet...Not sure if there will ever be...They sure look impressive though!

My kids actually asked if they could have tomatoes for lunch the other day...Usually, I would say they would need to eat a sandwich or something with it, but hey...it's summer and the fresh tomatoes won't last long!  So...we all three sat down for lunch, each with our own big bowl of tomatoes!  YUMMY!  Dad took this picture of Brett on our back porch one evening when he was eating a tomato.  Of course, Brett wasn't going to let him eat it alone! So cute...

Tomato Juicing Party!

Tonight, my family and I learned how to make homemade canned tomato juice!  Over 20 years ago, our close friends of the family, Dean and Nelma McGee, used to do a lot of canning with their family when they lived in Arkansas.  They had enough tomatoes from their garden this year that they decided to can some tomato juice this year.  Luckily, she extended an invitation to us to bring our excess tomatoes over and learn the process, too!

Not only does Nelma have the reputation for being a great cook, she is also an outstanding hostess!  When we arrived at their house this evening, they had a round table set-up in their garage with a plastic yellow table cloth on it.  They had set their juicer up on this table and everything was prepared for us to start. There were 8 of us in attendance for the fun, so it felt like a party! 

After soaking them in a bucket of water, we cut off the tops of the tomatoes, along with any bad spots.  Then, we cut the tomatoes in quarters.

(Note: LOL...Nelma wanted me to put a disclaimer on this entry to make sure everyone knows she doesn't usually go around with no make-up and hair unfixed, but she had been battling serious neck pain all day and didn't decide to do the tomato juicing till last minute.  I think she still looks great!)

 As we were cleaning and quartering the tomatoes, Dean and Kately (and for a short time, Brett)started running the juicer.  Kately would place the tomatoes in the top of the juicer and use a small wooden plunger to push the tomatoes down the to bottom of the white funnel while Dean continuously cranked the juicer.  The peeling and seeds would run into the blue bowl while the juice ran into the white triangular pan.

Kately got to a point where she couldn't keep from tasting the juice every time she put another tomato in the funnel.  Anyone who knows Dean, knows he wasn't about to let her get by with that without giving her a hard time about it!  Looks like he was trying to start a food fight with her, huh?! :-)  He kept telling Kately she was the Tomato Queen.  I told her she was the only kid at school that would be able to say she had made tomato juice with Mr. Dean.  She responded by saying, "That's because I am the only one related to him!" LOL...I love that we have close family friends that my kids think of as family. :-)

After Dean and Kately finished with the juicer, here's the juice we ended up with...it was close to 16 quarts!

Brett was more interested in eating slices of tomato than juicing tomatoes, so of course I had to get a picture of grammy, papa and Brett "taste testing" the tomatoes!

We then proceeded inside with the juice to bring it to a boil for 5 minutes...

Then we filled each jar just below the rim, used a spoon to clear off all the bubbles on the top layer of juice and poured a teaspoon of non-iodized salt into the jars...

 

Finally, the jars were ready to be sealed...Ryan was our official lid tightener since he is SO strong, as our kids would say!

Here is the finished product...now we just wait to hear the lids "pop" so we know they sealed properly!  Ta Da!

The following sign hangs above the kitchen sink at Dean and Nelma's house.  They truly have the gift of hospitality and this sign is so fitting for them.  A BIG THANK YOU to Dean and Nelma for taking the time to invite us over and show us how this process is done.  We were blessed to have met you close to 8 years ago...We love you both like family!